Lawn sprinkler



July 17 195% N. M. RIEGER LAWN SPRINKLER Filed March 1, 1946 NELSON M. RI EGER BY m m m 2 2 2 G H O 2 8 W m 3 a B ATTOR/VE Y Patented July 17, 1 951 LAWN SPRINKLER Nelson M. Rieger, Miamisburg, Ohio, assignor to The Rieger Manufacturing Company, Miamisburg, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 1, 1946, Serial No. 651,227

6 Claims. (Cl. 29918) This invention relates to a lawn sprinkler and more particularly to a rotarysprinkler which will produce a spray pattern having substantially straight line boundaries.

The usual rotary sprinkler produces a circular spray pattern and in order to sprinkle all portions of a lawn it is necessary that successive positions of the sprinkler shall be so spaced that the spray from each succeeding position overlaps and again sprinkles a previously sprinkled area. Otherwise, a substantial area of the lawn will not be sprinkled. A spray pattern having straight line boundaries, and especially a square spray pattern, enables successive portions of the lawn to be sprinkled without overlapping of the sprinkled areas, and also enables a lawn to be sprinkled up to a straight line border without causing material portions of the spray to pass beyond the border. It has been proposed heretofore to provide square pattern rotarysprinklers, but for the most part at least, these proposed sprinklers were inefiicient or were difi'lcult to manufacture and, therefore, expensive. So far as I am informed, none of them has been manufactured on a production basis.

One object of the invention is to provide a square pattern sprinkler which is eflicient in operation and simple in construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sprinkler for producing a spray pattern having straight line boundaries which comprises a minimum number of parts and requires-very few machining operations and can, therefore, be produced at a relatively low cost.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a sprinkler in which the flow of water through each reaction nozzle is continuous but gradually increases from the minimum flow to the maximum flow and then gradually decreases to the minimum flow.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a sprinkler which will adequately sprinkle those portions of the lawn which are close to the sprinkler.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a sprinkler having means for indicating, while the rotor is stationary, the position which a. border of the spray pattern will have with relation to the base of the sprinkler.

Other objects of the invention may appear the sprinkler is described in detail.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l is a top plan view of a sprinkler embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

and Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the.

' line 3-3 of Fig. 2, with the nozzles partly broken same as a square pattern rotary sprinkler, but

it is to be understood that the invention may take various forms and that it may be of a construction to produce other spray patterns, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the construction here shown the sprinkler comprises a hollow base 5 having at one end thereof a screwthreaded opening 6 by means of which it may be connected with a. hose or other source of water supply. This base has a fiat bottom surface and may rest directly on the lawn or it may be carried by a suitable supporting structure, the bottom of the base being provided with a screw threaded socket l to receive an attaching screw. An upright tubular spindle 8- is mounted on the top wall of the base 5 in fixed relation thereto and in communication with the interior of the base. In the present instance, the spindle is provided with a lower portion 9- of reduced diameter which is screw threaded into an opening ID in the top wall of the base. The bore of the tubular spindle is open at its lower end and is closed at its upper end. The shoulder I l formed by reducing the diameter of the lower portion of the spindle may rest directly on the top wall of the base but preferably a yieldable element is interposed between the shoulder and the base. As here shown, the top wall of the base is provided with an exterior recess l2 arranged about the opening l0 and an annular member I3 of yieldable material, such as soft rubber, is seated in the recess. A washer I4 of hard material, preferably brass, is supported on the yieldable member I3 and the shoulder ll of the spindle rests upon the inner portion of this washer. The upper cylindrical portion of the spindle is provided with a circumferential series of ports [5 arranged in a plane transverse to and preferably at right angles to the vertical axis of the spindle. The exterior surface of the spindle is provided at the outer end of each port IS with a channel l6 extending transversely to the spindle and extending across the port and beyond both sides of the latter. The channel has its greatest depth at the center thereof and tapers towards both ends. Preferably, the inner wall or base of the channel is a straight line and extends chordwise of the spindle.

Mounted for rotation about the spindle is av rotor which preferably comprises a tubularmerm;

her or sleeve I'I fitting snugly but rotatably about the cylindrical upper portion of the spindle. The lower end of the tubular member rests upon the outer portion of the washer I4, and the spindle is provided at its upper end with an outwardly projecting part I8 which engages the upper end of the tubular member II to hold the latter against material vertical movement with relation to the spindle. The tubular member is provided with a circumferential series of radial openings I9 arranged substantially in the plane of the radial ports I5 in the spindle so that as the rotor rotates each opening I9 will pass successively across the several ports in the spindle. The number of openings in the tubular member is less than the number of ports in the spindle, and when the sprinkler is to produce a square spray pattern the spindle is provided with four ports and the tubular member is provided with three ports. A reaction nozzle is secured to the tubular member I! in line with each opening I9 therein and, preferably, each nozzle comprises a tubular arm 20 having at its inner end a threaded portion which is screw threaded into the correspondin opening in the tubular member and the outer portion thereof extends upwardly and rearwardly at an angle to the inner portion, so that the water flowing through the arm will react thereon to rotate the arm and, therefore, the tubular member, about the axis of the spindle. As the rotor rotates the inner end of the passageway through each tubular arm will move successively across the channels I6 in the spindle, and as the passage in the arm moves into communication with the end of the channel the flow of water from the corresponding port to the arm begins but is small in quantity, and as the arm moves into full communication with the channel the flow increases to the maximum and then decreases to the minimum. The water will be projected from the end of the tubular arm the greatest distance when the flow through the arm is at maximum. Therefore, as each arm moves into communication with a channel in the spindle the water will be projected therefrom a relatively short distance and will gradually increase to the maximum distance in a substantially straight line, and as the flow decreases to the minimum the distance which the water is projected will be decreased to the -mini mum in a straight line at an angle to the firstmentioned line, thus producing an angle in the spray pattern, and as the arm passes about the four ports in the spindle the pattern will assume a square form.

The length of the channels I6 in the spindle is such that the cylindrical surfaces of the spindle between the ends of adjacent channels will be substantially equal to the diameter of the inlet to each tubular arm or nozzle. If the cylindrical surface between two channels is of the same or of greater length than the inside diameter of the arm, the flow of water will be momentaril interrupted as the arm passes from one channel to the next, and thus cause a break or undulation in the boundary line of the pattern. To avoid this the inner ends of the nozzles or arms are spaced a slight distance outwardly from the inner ends of the openings I9 of the tubular member, thus permitting the flow of water from each channel to each arm to begin when the forward end of the channel moves into communication with the opening I9 and to continue until the rear end of that channel passes beyond said opening. The diameter of each opening I9 is slightly greater than the length of the surfaces of the spindle between adjacent channels so that the forward end of a succeeding channel will move into communication with an opening I9 just before the rear end of the next proceeding channel moves out of communication with that opening, thereby providing a continuous flow of water through each arm throughout the rotation thereof about the spindle.

The arrangement of the nozzles is such that the spray discharged therefrom will substantially cover that area of the lawn which is close to the axis of the sprinkler, but the spray delivered to this close area from the end of the nozzle may be less than that delivered to other areas and, if desired, the fiow to the close or inner area may be supplemented by providing each nozzle arm with on or more orifices 22 so arranged that jets of water will be discharged therefrom to this close inner area. Preferably, the discharge end of the passage through each arm is of a slightly reduced diameter so as to cause a slight back pressure stantial distances from the orifices.

It is also desirable that some means be pro-- vided to enable the operator to so position the sprinkler that the straight line border will be located where he wishes it to be, such as parallel with and close to the border of a previously sprinkled area. For this purpose I have provided the upper end of the spindle 8 with a diametrical mark 23 which may be moved to such a position with relation to the nozzles, while the latter are stationary, that it will be parallel with one of the border lines of the square pattern. This position is predetermined and when once established remains the same. The rotation of the spindle to so position the mark imparts a slight axial movement of the spindle but this movement is so small that it does not appreciably affect the flow of water from the spindle to the rotor. The yieldable element I3 on which the tubular member IT is supported permits the.-

spindl to be moved axially the distance necessary to the adjustment of the mark without offering material resistance to the rotation of the rotor. In the present instance, the kerf provided in the upper end of the spindle, to receive the bit of a screw driver or the like, is utilized as themark.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details thereof, as various modifications may occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A lawn sprinkler comprising a hollow base having means whereby it may be connected with a source of water supply, a stationary tubular spindle mounted on said base and communicating with the interior thereof, said spindle having a circumferential series of ports arranged substantially in a common plane and having at the outer ends of the respective ports transverse channels spaced circumferentially one from the other, the transverse end portions of each channel being of less radial depth than the intermediate portion thereof, and a rotor mounted on said spindle for rotation about the latter and having a circumferential series of openings substantially in the plane of said ports, and reaction nozzles connected with the respective opencorresponding port and beyond both sides thereof,

a tubular member mounted on said spindle for rotation about the axis thereof and having a circumferential series of openings substantially in the plane of said ports, said openings being less in number than said ports, and reaction nozzles connected with the respective openings.

3. A lawn sprinkler comprising a hollow base having means whereby it may be connected with a source of water supply, a stationary tubular spindle mounted on said base and communicating with the interior thereof, said spindle having a circumferential series of ports arranged in a common plane and spaced substantially equal distances one from the other, said spindle having a cylindrical outer surface provided with transverse channels at the outer ends of the respective ports, each channel extending in a substantially straight line across the corresponding port and beyond both sides thereof, a tubular member mounted on said spindle for rotation about the axis thereof and having a circumferential series of non-communicating openings substantially in the plane of said ports, said openings being less in number than said ports, and reaction nozzles connected with the respective openings, the diameter of the inlet to each nozzle being substantially equal to the distance between the adjacent ends of said channels and less than the length of said channels.

4. A lawn sprinkler comprising a hollow base having means whereby it may be connected with a source of water supply, a stationary tubular spindle mounted on said base, communicating with the interior thereof and having a cylindrical outer surface, said spindle having four radial ports spaced substantially equal distances one from the other in a plane transverse to said spindle and having in said outer surface channels extending chordwise thereof across the respective ports, a tubular member mounted on said spindle for rotation with relation thereto and having three non-communicating openings spaced circumferentially thereof substantially equal distances one from the other in the plane of said ports, and reaction nozzles mounted on said tubular member and communicating with the respective openings therein.

5. A lawn sprinkler comprising a hollow base having means whereby it may be connected with a source of water supply, a stationary tubular spindle mounted on said base and communicating with the interior thereof, said spindle having a ends of the respective ports, each channel extending in a substantially straight line across the corresponding port and beyond both sides thereof, a tubular member mounted on said spindle for rotation about the axis thereof and having a circumferential series of openings substantially in the plane of said ports, said openings being less in number than said ports, and tubular reaction nozzles connected with the respective openings, each nozzle having its discharge end of a reduced diameter and having between its ends one or more jet orifices, whereby the water discharged from said nozzles will define a substantially square spray pattern, and means for indicating while said tubular member is stationary the location with relation to said base of a straight line boundary of the spray pattern which is to be so defined.

6. A lawn sprinkler comprising a hollow base having means whereby it may be connected with a source of water supply, said base having in the top wall thereof a screw threaded opening and an exterior recess surrounding said opening, an annular member of yieldable material in said recess, an annular washer of hard material supported on said yieldable member, a tubular spindle closed at its outer end and having a screw threaded lower end portion of reduced diameter mounted in said opening and having shoulder engaging said washer, the upper portion of said spindle having a circumferential series of ports spaced one from the other in a plane transverse to said spindle, the cylindrical outer surface of said upper portion having channels extending chordwise thereof across the other ends of said ports, a tubular member mounted on said spindle for rotation with relation thereto, said spindle having at its upper end an outwardly extending part to engage said tubular member and hold the same against upward movement with relation thereto, said tubular member having a circumferential series of openings spaced one from the other in the plane of said ports, said openings being less in number than said ports and reaction nozzles carried by said tubular member and connected with the respective openings therein, whereby the water discharged from said nozzles will define a spray pattern having substantially straight line boundaries, said spindle having thereon a mark adjustable with relation to said nozzles by the rotation of said spindle to a position in which it will indicate the position of one of said straight line boundaries with relation to said base.

NELSON M. RIEGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 390,427 Woolsey Oct. 2, 1888 1,756,483 Estep Apr. 29, 1930 1,847,763 Keys Mar. 1, 1932 1,976,030 Lighthall Oct. 9, 1934 

